East and Central High School's GreatStories Club Reviews

May 10, 2010

East and Central High School’s Book Clubs and Mary Thompson, Youth Librarian for the Kansas City Public Library - Bluford Branch, participated in YALSA's Great Stories CLUB (Connecting Libraries, Underserved teens and Books). The book club was created to provide teens with an opportunity to read and discuss books that are relevant to the changes in their lives and the lives of their peers. By discussing The Afterlife, Rules of Survival and One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies with each other, students learned that teens of all cultures face the same challenges and decisions they have to make concerning their lives.

Here are some of our reviews for The Afterlife by Gary Soto:

Ernesto said: " At first I choose this book because i've always been interested in ghosts and thought it would be good. However the plot to me was kinda boring while Im not saying it was bad I have say to that I expecting a bit more ot of it. Though I must say the ending did leave me kind of hanging woundering was that it I did however I did like how the author used spanish word throughout the story.It deffinatly make a person think about what comes after death so I'd say it was an ok read overall."

Giovana said: I thought this book was okay. I think it could of had a better ending, because i do not like it when Chuy just disappeared. I want to know what happen after. I did like that it just cut me off. Although, I liked that Gary Soto express his idea of the afterlife in this book. I wished he could have done a better job. He did however, made me realize the importance of life and to be thankful for what we have, because tomorrow we might not have all of what we have today.

Erika said: I thought this book personally was a waste of time.It seemed like a average book that does not grab my attention. Im on the 2nd chapter barley,and im not encourage to keep going on. One thing i do like is the humor which is pretty funny. Also i like how Gary Soto made a visual how the after life might be.Its nice to picture and a great way to make a book, only if there was more adventure to it!(:

Makoulako said: What I learned about this book was that the book taught me about afterlife and it also get me thinking how short life is.

Marimar said: for me this book wasbored but his thoughs where interting
how he sees the after life was awsome.

Samantha said: i really didnt like this book. it was slow and, boring. i didnt like how it showed how he died in the first chapter. after that he jus described his life and it was just not interesting. it didnt have me wanting to read more.

Heather said: I absolutly hated this book because it had nop point and it was borin.